By Patric Hedlund, TME
On Monday, Aug. 21 a total eclipse of the sun will occur in a path that travels in an arc from Oregon to South Carolina. Here in the Mountain Communities, because of our location, only a 2/3 eclipse will be seen, beginning at 9:05 a.m., with about 65% of the Sun covered at 10:20 a.m. It will all be over at about 11:43 a.m.
In our story last week, local astronomical photographer Scott Rosen reported that extreme care must be taken so that no one—not ourselves, our children or our animals—looks directly at the sun during this event, not even for a second. The temptation will be great, but eye damage resulting in blindness is likely to occur.
We referred readers to NASA and NOAA websites to seek guidance for acquiring “eclipse viewing glasses” from trustworthy vendors who were selling packs of certified, cardboard-frame eclipse viewing glasses at a reasonable price. As of last Saturday, Aug. 12, however, a new complication has popped up.
Complications in getting eclipse glasses
Amazon.com sent emails to people who had bought eclipse viewing glasses from them, warning customers that counterfeit glasses had gotten into the supply chain and that theirs may not be safe to use. Amazon said they are recalling the viewing glasses.
This caused pandemonium for vendors, who had not been notified of this recall. Suddenly the price of viewing glasses that are not on the recall lists skyrocketed, causing even greater concern.
Sites The Mountain Enterprise checked for the glasses on Tuesday were almost entirely sold out or placed on back-order, even if you are willing to buy in lots of 50 or 100 at a time.
Several we checked said, “we cannot guarantee arrival by Monday, Aug. 21.”
Plan B: So, what is Plan B, if you wish to experience the eclipse without risking blindness? The very simple pinhole device shown at right is surprisingly effective. Have fun, and be safe.
Photo captions:
Image Credit: Rick Fienberg, TravelQuest International and Wilderness Travel / via NASA: In this series of stills from 2013, the eclipse sequence runs from right to left. The center image shows totality; on either side of totality are the second contact (right) and third contact (left)—the ‘diamond rings’ that mark the beginning and end of the totality.
WARNING! Never look directly at the sun without proper eye protection. You can seriously injure your eyes. WELDER’S GLASSES will not protect your eyes unless they are Shade 12 or higher.
These illustrations are from the NASA website about viewing the eclipse.
A simple projection camera and how to build it is below. You’ll be surprised at how easy and fast it is, and your eyes will stay safe!
You can easily and safely observe the Sun by projecting it through a tiny hole onto a white sheet of paper. This simple device is called a “pinhole camera.”
For Plan B,
You’ll Need:
•Two sheets of stiff white paper
•One pin
•A sunny day
•A friend to help
Courtesy of Stanford Solar Center
http://solar-center.stanford.edu/observe/observe.html
1. Punch a hole in the center of one of your pieces of paper with the pin.
2. Go outside, hold the paper up and aim the hole toward the Sun. [Don’t look at the Sun, either through the hole or in any other way!]
3. Now, see the image of the Sun that comes through the hole.
4. Then, move your other piece of paper back and forth until the image rests on the paper and is in focus (i.e., has a nice, crisp edge). What you are seeing is not just a dot of light coming through the hole, but an actual image of the Sun.
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This is part of the August 18, 2017 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.
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